Thailand Shooting: How Could My Son's Life Be Taken So Recklessly?: Stephen Ashton's Family

[webfact]

Thailand shooting: how could my son's life be taken so recklessly?

LONDON: -- The family of Stephen Ashton, the British tourist shot dead in Thailand on New Year's Eve, spoke today of their "complete devastation" and questioned how a life could be taken so recklessly.

Stephen Ashton, 22, was killed as he danced with friends at a beach bar in Koh Phangan. He was caught by a stray bullet when a fight escalated between two groups of Thai youths.

His heartbroken mother, Diane, 48, and sister Emily, 20, were being comforted at the family's £1 million mock Tudor home in Purley, south London.

His family said in a statement: "As a family we are completely devastated by the loss of Stephen from our lives.

"He has been taken away from us in such cruel and tragic circumstances in which he was an innocent bystander simply enjoying New Year celebrations [more...]

Full story: http://www.telegraph...recklessly.html

-- The Telegraph 2013-01-03

related topic

UK Cautions Citizens After Koh Phangan Killing

[householder]

Tragic and senseless incident. Will the sentence be light/commuted as indicated in the article?

Also, what the hell has the house price got to do with anything? Such inclusions are normally found in Daily Mail articles.

Edited January 3, 2013 by householder

[Lancelot]

Tragic and senseless incident. Will the sentence be light/commuted as indicated in the article?

Also, what the hell has the house price got to do with anything? Such inclusions are normally found in Daily Mail articles.

I agree, noting the price of the family's home is, in my view, mocking their grief.

Real shame, a young life snuffed out so needlessly. My sympathy to the family.

[submaniac]

Poor kid. When I read about this I all I could picture was some young kid dancing on the sand on a beach doing no harm to no one. Just someone young enjoying what it is like to be young. We've all been there. There were so many more things he should have experienced. RIP.

[meatboy]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

[noitom]

Condolences to the Ashton family. What was the newspaper's objective in publishing the value of the Ashton family home? Were they seeking to sensationalize the status of the family? Or were they attempting to strike fear in the hearts of Thais who recklessly fire away or hit and run people on the streets? Hard to figure what their motive in this was.

If the Ashton family's wealth is substantial, it would be very just is they sued the bar for allowing customers to carry guns in the bar. In the US a bar can be sued for a substantial sum if a customer were to be hit by a shot fired by a customer or staff of the bar. A law suit by the Ashtons might raise visibility about the lack of due diligence, legal surveillance and risk to tourists in Thailand.

[Hedghog]

The family can at least take a little comfort,from the fact he died quickly and whilst enjoying himself.

This is not a thought.

I have experienced the loss of a younger sibling,he was eighteen.

The aforementioned statement,helped our family deal with the loss.

[Misterwhisper]

The article states Ashton was the victim of a fight between two gangs of "Thai youths". The alleged killer is 26. In many countries this age would no longer fall under the term "youth", but "young adult". Unfortunately, in Thailand all too many "young adults" display the mentality of 13-year-old school yard bullies.

[Lancelot]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

Don't be ashamed to live in Thailand, you didn't cause this tragedy. But I do think it is important for these stories to get international press because tourists need to come here with their eyes wide open. Thailand has an illusion of total safety- but by the time a toursit sees a problem comming, its probably too late...

[animatic]

Tragic and senseless incident. Will the sentence be light/commuted as indicated in the article?

Also, what the hell has the house price got to do with anything? Such inclusions are normally found in Daily Mail articles.

I agree, noting the price of the family's home is, in my view, mocking their grief.

Real shame, a young life snuffed out so needlessly. My sympathy to the family.

I think it is a rather ham handed attempt to show these deaths happen,

no matter the class or status of the victims family. A sad incident,

and these young hoodlums fighting amongst themselves, are typically

utterly oblivious of any colateral damage they might cause,

and should be hung out to dry as a general warning that there WILL be consequences.

But that is so un-Thai...

He'll says 'I didn't mean to do it', 'I am sorry', and they will give him 3 years.

and pretend it's all done and settled, and sweep it under the public rug, ASAP,

to keep the cash cow in Haad Rin flowing Golden Milky Baht from tourists.

[Bagwan]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

For Putney read Purley. Putney forms part of the London Borough of Wandsworth while Purley lies in the London Borough of Croydon. There are no connections between to two. It seems that you are not fully informed about the asking price for garages in either location also.

Some might think that on account of your over the top and inaccurate post you should also put yourself inside a big black plastic bag and wait for the binmen to collect you. I couldn't possibly comment.

P.S. If you think that a Daily Telegraph reporter is garbage God only knows how you would categorise a reporter employed by The Nation.

[BirdsandBooze]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

The house is actually in Purley near Croydon and is what you'd get for £1m there. Still shows the so called middle class media's obsession with wealth though.

[meatboy]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

For Putney read Purley. Putney forms part of the London Borough of Wandsworth while Purley lies in the London Borough of Croydon. There are no connections between to two. It seems that you are not fully informed about the asking price for garages in either location also.

Some might think that on account of your over the top and inaccurate post you should also put yourself inside a big black plastic bag and wait for the binmen to collect you. I couldn't possibly comment.

P.S. If you think that a Daily Telegraph reporter is garbage God only knows how you would categorise a reporter employed by The Nation.

sorry my mistake as you get old the eye's start going,looks like you are already there by your snide remarks.

[submaniac]

I agree that putting a price on the house is distasteful. However, I would with all due respects point out something: if it were my child, or anyone else on this board's child, there may be a good chance that the parents may be searching on news and other things related to their child's death, and they might just come here. If it were my child that was dead, seeing people bicker about a home price where it's located etc. wouldn't really make me feel too good.

[ratcatcher]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

The house is actually in Purley near Croydon and is what you'd get for £1m there. Still shows the so called middle class media's obsession with wealth though.

Condolences to the Ashton family for their sad loss.

With regard to the reporting, I am not surprised they had to add "mock" Tudor, as if it would be the real thing for 1 million quid, plus I don't know why the reporter didn't make mention of the family's taste in autos as well.

The value of the family's house has nothing to do with the pain they must feel so soon after New Year.

Thailand IMHO is not a dangerous country, by comparison to some I can think of, but it does have its spots where extra caution is needed. Some areas need to be totally avoided.

[angsta]

The Daily Mail makes The Nation look like a quality read.

Poor kid.

[Digitalbanana]

I thought all news items in British tabloids on any subject whatsoever included the price of the subjects home due to some bizarre quirk in British journalism?

[bigbamboo]

This story is big in the UK because of the percieved light sentence and also the fact that two other incidents last year involving British tourists were brushed away by Thai police who presumably were under pressure ton protect the tourist industry here.

The wealth of the victim's family is irrelevant. If we were talking about the wealth of the Thai's family that might be a different story......

[TomTao]

Condolences to the family of the deceased, I hope pressure can be applied to the Thai government through the British government to ensure a proper application of the rule of law so that justice can served in this and any future incidents, this will also serve to cause further damage to Thailand's reputation.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[PattayaPhom]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

I think you will find its Purley not Putney but either way its not relevant.

[ppmacready]

The article states Ashton was the victim of a fight between two gangs of "Thai youths". The alleged killer is 26. In many countries this age would no longer fall under the term "youth", but "young adult". Unfortunately, in Thailand all too many "young adults" display the mentality of 13-year-old school yard bullies.

You talking about the police, right?

[theajarn]

RIP to the young man and condolences to the family.

But it really ticks me off to see a potential loophole here. They are charging him with murder and not manslaughter. The lawyers are probably going to find that he is not guilty of murder because his target wasn't the farang. So he's going to be released just like that -- as if nothing happened. A technicality that is obvious even before the trial. No wonder he looks so smug. Really, really pisses me off, and I wish there was a secret group of vigilantes out there that will get the deed done...

[chooka]

Tragic and senseless incident. Will the sentence be light/commuted as indicated in the article?

Also, what the hell has the house price got to do with anything? Such inclusions are normally found in Daily Mail articles.

I agree, noting the price of the family's home is, in my view, mocking their grief.

Real shame, a young life snuffed out so needlessly. My sympathy to the family.

I thought exactly the same thing, totally irrelevant to the story and the grief they must be feeling at this time. Maybe the Thai courts will look at thier wealth and hand down a lighter sentence to the offender.

[caykay]

Condolences to the Ashton family. What was the newspaper's objective in publishing the value of the Ashton family home? Were they seeking to sensationalize the status of the family? Or were they attempting to strike fear in the hearts of Thais who recklessly fire away or hit and run people on the streets? Hard to figure what their motive in this was.

If the Ashton family's wealth is substantial, it would be very just is they sued the bar for allowing customers to carry guns in the bar. In the US a bar can be sued for a substantial sum if a customer were to be hit by a shot fired by a customer or staff of the bar. A law suit by the Ashtons might raise visibility about the lack of due diligence, legal surveillance and risk to tourists in Thailand.

Laws? In Thailand?

[sprq]

what an absolute disgrace that the price of his home should go alongside the story of this unfortunate killing of an innocent man it just goes to show that whoever rote this bit of garbage knows nothing about the area of putney,a garage would cost you more than whats been quoted.my condolences to his family sometimes i am ashamed to say i live in thailand.

It's Purley, actually, which is south of Croydon and rather less sought after than Putney, but you're right about the ugliness of stating the price.

[Suffinator]

It makes you wonder how many tourists need to be murdered before respective governments really take action and put a stop to tourism. Only when tourism finally comes to an end, and the money stops flowing, will the Thai authorities actually do something about it.

I just read an article on Meebal - At least one website is asking for the senseless murders to be stopped.

[NoshowJones]

Tragic and senseless incident. Will the sentence be light/commuted as indicated in the article?

Also, what the hell has the house price got to do with anything? Such inclusions are normally found in Daily Mail articles.

If anyone is interested, I sold my house for 75000 GBP before I came here. Anyway, RIP to the poor guy and my condolences to his family.

[belg]

hub of accidental deaths, balcony jumpers, pattaya flyers, jetski & tuk tuk scammers....

tourists should be obligated to sign a weaver at immigration : THIS HOLLIDAY MIGHT COST YOUR LIVE ...

[Docno]

Obvious to me that this smart, respectable, handsome and well loved young Englishman was shot directly and deliberately by that Scum, who then pleaded mistake in order to end up with a suspended sentence for manslaughter.

Exactly the same BS story/excuse that the gunman murderer of Pattaya Soi 7 used recently.

Both should be sentenced to death immediately.

RIP Stephen. My thoughts are with your Mum and sister.

How is this obvious? There will be enough (western) witnesses to correct any attempt to whitewash this one. His friends, for instance. Quite believable that two groups of Thais got into it and guns got pulled out. I can only speculate how accurate a 'homemade gun' must be under such circumstances. Then again, I don't believe that shooting a gun in a crowded pub/party should treated as anything less than murder. But let's tone down the conspiratorial thinking....

[Arkady]

Tragic and senseless incident. Will the sentence be light/commuted as indicated in the article?

Also, what the hell has the house price got to do with anything? Such inclusions are normally found in Daily Mail articles.

I agree, noting the price of the family's home is, in my view, mocking their grief.

Real shame, a young life snuffed out so needlessly. My sympathy to the family.

Yes, that is horrible and the photo of the mock tudor home didn't add to the report either. Even the Torygraph now resorts to gutter press tactics. For balance they might have added an estimate of the value and a photo of Mr Ekkapun's family home but perhaps no Thai appraiser or photographer was available at short notice. I am also not sure what they mean by the comment about light sentences in Thailand for manslaughter which doesn't exist as a crime in the Thai Penal Code. I don't think that any form of accidental killing plea will fly anyway. Ekkapun fired an illegal gun in the direction of a group of people with the intention of causing death or severe injury and his intent was realised as one of them died. The intent to kill or maim makes that murder under the Thai Penal Code, regardless of exactly whom he might claim was his target, and the penalty is much more severe than in the soft British legal system where murderers can be freed after 5 or 6 years in jail and then go on the dole. With remission for a guilty plea and cooperation I think his sentence will be a minimum of 30 years, of which he will have to serve at least 20.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Arkady